AUSTIN, Texas — The 18th annual Amigos en Azul "Shop with a Cop" event will be held Saturday – but things will be a little different this time.
Members of the Austin Police Department's Amigos en Azul organization will host the event at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Target in the Southpark Meadows shopping center at 9500 South Interstate 35. Children will arrive around 11 a.m. and officers will hand out gift cards when they get there.
Because of COVID-19, the children won't be paired up with officers this year. Instead, their parents will be with them and they will have the option to either go into the store to shop or go home and shop online.
Santa Claus will also not make an appearance this year. For lunch, each child will be given a McDonald's gift card that they may use whenever they like.
Each year, Amigos en Azul provides disadvantaged students from local elementary school the opportunity to shop for themselves and their families during the holidays. This year, roughly 60 children from Houston, St. Elmo and Perez elementary schools were chosen to participate.
Other organizations participating and assisting in this event this year include Target, the Crystal Horton Group, Shop Core Properties, Velocity Federal Credit Union, Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Austin Cops for Charities, the Austin Police Women's Association and the Lesbian and Gay Peace Officer's Association.
Amigos en Azul, or "Friends in Blue," was founded in 1982 to "better bridge the gap between the Hispanic community and the Austin Police Department," according to APD.
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